A gift for him
by PaperBows
Summary: Sasuke has a brother named Itachi. He doesn't see him often but he knows him by heart. (Modern AU. In which the Uchihas are totally not trying to drive each other crazy.)
1. Prologue

**Thank you for giving this story a chance. I hope you enjoy reading it, because I really enjoyed writing it. I really wanted something lighthearted and this wouldn't leave me alone :)**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

Sasuke has a brother named Itachi

He doesn't see him often but he knows him by heart.

He has waist-length black hair that mother often braids to keep it from tangling, and long eyelashes that cast shadows over his cheeks whenever his eyes are closed.

Sasuke is both relieved and apprehensive of seeing those eyes closing.

Itachi is kind and trusting, but he often has that guilty look about him that just won't go away.

In the end, it always comes down to this: Sasuke loves his brother, with all his heart, as such it is only natural that he would take care of him.

Itachi disagrees.

About the last part of course.

Probably some older brother nonsense that deeply pained him. For Sasuke it never mattered, they weren't any other siblings, after all.

He is stubborn, his brother. But Fugaku and Mikoto and Sasuke himself are having none of it.

The deeper he falls into the illness, the less Itachi's opinion is taken into account.

Especially when it's about anything concerning Itachi himself.

As a child, Sasuke remembered his big brother always being so _so_ tired.

He would be carried by mother or father, his skinny legs dangling lifelessly behind their backs.

"Your brother is not like other children Sasuke" Mother said, back then, because eventually, Sasuke complained and asked questions and why his Nii-san was always taken away and did someone hurt him? "Something in his body is misbehaving. It can be scary sometimes but you don't have to worry, Mom and Dad are working really hard to make it go away."

"Is he hurting really badly?"

Mikoto shook her head gently.

"We need to be really careful not to bring little bugs around him okay? He can't defend himself against them like you and I."

"Do you think I can help you save him too?"

"Would you like that?"

Sasuke never had anyone that was his to protect before.

 _"Nii-san ? Why do you sleep soo much?"_

 _"I'm a little tired, otouto."_

 _"Then why am I not always tired like you?"_

 _"That's because you're really really strong."_

Not before this day.

The days, months, years after that realization were hectic.

His chest welled with pride every time his brother reached a little milestone, and they held their collective breaths as he relearned to walk on wobbly legs.

It was baffling how something so simple could bring so much happiness.

And then it happened. The incessant coughing, so gruesome, more and more violent, with so much force it could break a rib. Little splatters of blood, their mother and father so stern and efficient ( _and how werethey not utterly afraid?)_ and his own crying and screaming and feeling useless.

There were so much episodes Sasuke felt that his chest could explode, being exposed to so much hope and then so much disappointment.

And Itachi, as soon as his body allowed him to feel, felt it.

Soon he was begging their parents and after days of thinking and reconsidering, they agreed it would be in Sasuke's best interest if he was not daily exposed to the toxic atmosphere surrounding his big brother's chronic illness, Sasuke was following Fugaku and Mikoto would stay with Itachi.

He never wanted Sasuke to suffer from seeing him like this again and tried to forbid him to visit whenever he was feeling down.

Really it was useless to try.

Soon, Sasuke was acquantained with the doctors and the therapists and the daily procedures. The few days he spent there, he wanted to make himself useful.

Itachi disagreed about that too.

He didn't want a caretaker, he wanted his brother, nothing more.

Sasuke remembers him looking both grateful and miserable. It did not suit him at all.

Sasuke didn't like seeing his brother miserable. Most of the time, though, Itachi welcomed him with a smile full of light.

Most of the time, it was in a sterilized environment. White walls, white sheets, clinical smell everywhere.

And most of the time, they were lucky, and his brother could breathe with his own nose and lungs and did not need artificial help.

Sasuke usually snuck in as much sweets as he could, the ones that would decay your teeth right on contact, the first time he did that, Itachi offered him a tomato in return ( _it is a special tomato, otouto, he said with a straight face_ ).

They would snicker together (or Sasuke would snicker and Itachi would pretend to) and Sasuke would tell Itachi about his life, his friends, complain about his father, gloat about his grades.

Itachi would be proud, smile, poke his forehead. He would offer tales about Shisui, his best friend slash cousin that would visit sometimes.

Sasuke was not so fond of the character, not since a certain _incident_ , but whatever.

Their parents hired private tutors, since Itachi had much time on his hands anyways, his free time was usually spent deteriorating his eyesight and learning things beyond Sasuke's comprehension.

And Sasuke wonders if Itachi would have been different, if he had seen more of the world behind these walls.

No, he decides.

You see, there was something about his brother that definitely didn't belong to the outside world.

During his better times, he was allowed out for a few would try to smother him with every mother-son activity she could think of. They would call each other and stop only when Itachi was too tired to speak more.

Meeting with his brother always ended the same way. Itachi would tell how better he felt ( _lies_ ), how it was all over soon ( _lies lies_ ). Itachi felt that he owed him and he would soon do the older brother things that circumstances didn't allow him yet. He would take care of Sasuke and he was sorry sorry sorry-

"You're an idiot." Sasuke would say and Itachi would look even more conflicted.

Sasuke would surrender, eventually. "Yeah, you'll take care of me, alright."

For his own sake Sasuke never believed it, but for Itachi's sake he pretended to anyways.

He is rather fond of his brother, after all.

And he knows, that every more day with him is a miracle.

Fugaku looks at him and says he is proud.

And then it happened again, one of those news that made you of afraid of even thinking of being happy because that's usually when everything starts going downhill.

But it was in spring and Itachi was going home.

* * *

 **Tbc….**

 **Please review and you'll make me a very very happy person** **:)**


	2. One

Sasuke's hair stuck stubbornly to his forehead, little beads of sweat making their way to his jawline, as he waited impatiently in the car. Any attempt to tame the rebellious bangs resulted in making a greater mess out of them, so resigned, the young man did what he'd always done: let them live their own life.

After interminable minutes into watching himself in the rear-view mirror, three familiar raven heads finally made their way in his general direction.

Sasuke quickly hopped out of the car, smoothed the creases on his pants and swept his fingers one last time through his hair.

The first thing he saw was his mother waving ardently at him and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile. His arm held (a little too) tightly into her secure grip, Itachi seemed a little dazed, he frowned slightly as his eyes were getting used to the blinding sun outside. As for their father, he was falling a little behind, (and it was so uncharacteristic of him) at a complete loss of what to do with his own hands. Every now and then, he would awkwardly stretch them forward, as if he was expecting the ground to swallow his eldest son.

The sight of Sasuke's mocking smirk had the Uchiha patriarch glaring at the young man, before quickly letting it go and displaying a little smile of his own.

Itachi, for his part, was completely oblivious to it all, or most likely he chose to ignore it, in such a good mood he seemed. The sight of his big brother actually hurt Sasuke's eyes, the bright colors he wore contrasting against his pale skin, literally putting the sun to a shame. All of it was very likely Mikoto's doing, (after all, Itachi was such a sober person) in another attempt to bring out Itachi's 'livelier' side. All of them had their own ways to cope, hers was _this_.

He quickened his pace, followed closely by his fretting mother. Sasuke's face hurt from the smile stretching it, if any of his classmates saw him now, his reputation would be ruined.

"Little brother, I missed you."

Sasuke gestured for a high-five. Instead, he was engulfed into his brother's choking hug, Itachi's nails digging painfully in his little brother's skull.

"I told you." Sasuke complained into Itachi's shoulder. "Not when there are people around."

"Silly little brother." Itachi admonished. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrow in a way that conveyed his exact thoughts on how there was no more proper way for one's big brother to greet one's little brother.

Sasuke sighed.

"Don't be grumpy, Sasuke, we were looking forward to spend time with you." Mikoto said helpfully, swaying happily back and forth, before grabbing his cheeks and planting a kiss there.

This half of the family cared very little about Uchiha fashion.

"How are you feeling, Itachi? Not too tired?" Fugaku inquired, breaking Sasuke out of his thoughts as his brother let go of him.

"Father, I barely walked ten feet."

"If you say so."

It was a truly fascinating thing, how Fugaku struggled to express basic concern (Sasuke, in contrast, could be quite vocal), despite the fact that he genuinely longed to. As it turned out, he kept looking at Itachi, not quite believing his son but reluctant to say another word.

Itachi softly shook his head.

"I insist, please do not concern yourself so much over me." He reassured as he planted his hands firmly on his father's shoulders. Fugaku blinked, but no other sign of acknowledgment transpired from his demeanor.

"Ah, all right." The man conceded, at last. "Help your brother settling Sasuke, we're going."

The brothers exchanged a look. The elder's shoulders sagged slightly.

"There there." The youngest soothed, pressing Itachi forward, "Come on, we can't have you hurting yourself unnecessarily."

Sasuke's laugher soon followed, loud enough for only his brother to hear, and the latter shot him resigned look. Before long, everyone was settled, Mikoto's jovial voice filled the closed space in the car, telling anecdotes ranging from hospitals to 'I bought your brother the cutest outfit!'

The mental image of his brother being tagged along like an over-sized human doll, at the mercy of the woman's whim, penetrated Sasuke's mind, he shuddered, "My poor brother." He sympathized.

"Ah, but it's not as bad as you think." Said brother answered, seemingly content. "We do spend enjoyable time together."

Of course, his brother was the worst person he could choose to make fun of. He didn't retaliate or even take offense, he would just take things in stride. Maybe it was because they were brothers, or it was due Itachi's overall pacific nature.

Under Sasuke's gaze, Itachi slumped lazily, his head resting against the car glass. Most of his hair slipped out of his ponytail by now and the hair tie was threatening to fall anytime.

"Hey." The younger started. "You look skinnier than last time I saw you, are you doing everything right?"

"So do you." Itachi countered. "Tell me, little brother, is father pushing you too hard?"

Fugaku unsurprisingly, once nurtured the hopes of seeing his eldest son walk on his footsteps as chief of the police. Life and circumstances wouldn't have it this way, (and really, Itachi never showed any interest in pursuing this path). This left him with his available son, which he discovered, given enough attention, proved himself to be quite brilliant. He'd been overjoyed when his youngest started showing interest on the job. Sasuke didn't really mind, he rather liked the undivided attention and praises he received from his father.

"No." Sasuke brushed off. "He's manageable and, I have to say, that was a pretty lame attempt at changing the subject, hm?"

His brother didn't dignify him with a response, but he was granted an infuriating smile and a forehead poke.

* * *

The house was smaller than the one Sasuke and his father lived in, but it was definitely livelier, flamboyant and full of flowery curtains and warm carpets. The wheelchair discarded in a corner of the living-room looked out of place, and as much as everyone wanted it gone, it would probably stick around for a while.

Everyone dutifully washed their hands before considering doing anything else. It would probably be one of their last once-in-a-month gathering dinner, but each of them yearned the consistency of the event, and that implied walking on eggshells when it came to sanitary measures. No one wanted to be the potential instigator of an unfortunate event.

Sasuke was currently leaning his head heavily against his palm, half-heartedly spinning a spatula into a pot, the result of Itachi proposing to help their mother for dinner and dragging his unwilling brother into his own idea of 'quality time'. Ten minutes into it, he mercifully declared:

"You are not having fun."

Sasuke was ready to throw his hands in the air.

"Duh. Can't we do something else?"

Itachi studied him and after a few seconds, he said, "All right. Come." and he tugged his little brother's arm.

"Where to?"

"Anywhere you want. I will spoil you." Itachi smiled fondly.

Sasuke smirked "About time!"

It was another unofficial little tradition that the brothers would always spend some time away from their parents. They usually would not go very far, as they would stop and rest every few minutes, enough for Itachi to regain his breath if there was any need.

Furthermore, it happened to be one of those few times Sasuke would show things around for his brother. Sometimes, Itachi's eyes would widen just a little, which Sasuke relished fully, but god forbid he expressed that out loud.

He did find his voice, however, when an individual leapt through a window like a cat, threatening to get in the way of their brotherly time. Itachi merely shrugged like it was an everyday thing.

"Sasuke!" Shisui ruffled his head, most likely to break to awkwardness, since the young man certainly knew -Sasuke's face could be quite expressive- how his little cousin despised the gesture.

He batted the offending hand away.

"You."

He turned to his brother, beckoning for him to follow.

"Itachi, I'm waiting for you." He added in his most disinterested -non-whining- voice.

"I see he's still not over his little dictator phase?" Shisui pretended to murmur into Itachi's ear, clasping the young man into a one-armed side hug, all the while being loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

"Oh? I think he's fine."

"Because you are such an incurable martyr."

The cousins smiled at each other. The one-sided embrace had them practically head-bumping by now. At that moment, Itachi appeared so incredibly worn out. All of his previous life-force seemingly gone, he looked like he could collapse right there in Shisui's arms and not wake up for the next twenty-four hours.

"Nii-san?"

"Hm? Oh yes, we're going." He turned to Shisui, "Did you want something?"

The older smiled sheepishly, running his hand through his curls, "I heard you were discharged so I came to see for myself, but" a tentative look at Sasuke got him a challenging stare, "I guess you guys haven't seen each other for a while so, I'll see you later."

He blew a kiss and was out of the window before Itachi could ask 'Are you sure?'

* * *

Later that day, they had supper together, purposely around the littler kitchen table for the occasion.

Sasuke munched on his food. Itachi carefully picked every piece of chicken in his plate, placing them one by one near its border, Mikoto glared and pushed it back right in the middle.

That mother of theirs could be scary when she wanted to.

Going as far as to threaten his brother into eating an innocent chicken.

Fugaku, who had been with them a few minutes before, was now on the phone, probably scaring some subordinates away.

He sat back. "Something came up, I am expected back by this morning." He frowned.

"For how much time?" Mikoto asked.

"I can't tell yet."

Mikoto leaned back a further into her seat. "In this case, I'll have to call Kushina and report our plans."

Fugaku raised his eyebrows. "What? Did you plan to do something else this week?"

"Yes, I did." Her voice was sharp, yet strained. "But I don't want the boys to be alone." Everyone was silent. Itachi inched closer to his mother.

Up close, it was obvious that years of built-up tension and worry had finally taken their toll on the Uchiha matriarch. Kushina was her best friend so she saw Fugaku coming around as an opportunity to have some time for herself.

"You can go. We'll be fine." Her eldest son uttered gently, his hand poised on her shoulder.

She swept the hair framing his face and tucked it behind his ear, "Are you sure you two will be okay on your own?"

"Why not?" Sasuke asked.

"What Mother is trying to ask, otouto is, will you not be afraid of staying alone with me?"

"Well, we'll pay extra attention." He gave his brother a pointed look. "won't we?"

In response to which, said brother nodded very slowly.

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other and somehow came to some unsaid agreement, as they nodded their heads almost in slow unison.

"We'll have to ask your cousin to check on you from time to time." Fugaku decided.

"And I'll leave Sasuke with the list of allowed food and the medicines ..." Mikoto added.

"Mother, he doesn't have to do that. I can handle it, I always did." Itachi complained.

Three pair of eyes stared at him.

"Of course you do, sweetheart." Mikoto smiled and winked at her youngest son very -not- discreetly.

At that point, Itachi shot his brother such a desperate look that Sasuke actually shuddered.

Because it was the only sensible thing to do, Sasuke gave his brother's shoulder a compassionate squeeze accompanied with a solemn nod.

"Just call us." Their father intervened.

More nods.

"And you will listen to your brother Sasuke, in everything he says." She turned to her eldest "In return, I know you can take care of yourself, but listen to Sasuke from time to time, he can be quite mature when the situation calls to it."

Sasuke savored his little victory.

Itachi languidly brought his knees up to his chest and rested his head there.

* * *

Later that night, when everyone was tucked in their respective beds, Sasuke found that he was unable to sleep. He quietly rolled over to face the adjacent bed and watched.

A full minute passed before he could distinguish the soft rise and fall of a chest.

Reassured, he closed his eyes and went into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Review ? :)


	3. Two

**And then this chapter happened ...**

* * *

Mikoto and Fugaku, after leaving the customary parental advices, (let it not be said that they didn't know how to keep their offspring in line) drove off to their respective destinations, one of them looking more content than the other. Fugaku was the first to go, not before gracing the family with one of his stern glances, which Sasuke personally interpreted as 'I will be back and I will know', these glances proved to be quite efficient in the boy's younger years, even more so when your father is a police officer, no one really wanted to get you into trouble. Mikoto followed a few hours later, looking utterly perfect and flawless, after whispering god-knows-what into Itachi's ear for an excessively long time, and leaving their hair in compete disarray from excessive squeezing.

As for their nice neighbors, they were kindly instructed to watch out for anything suspect going on in the Uchiha house.

But Sasuke did not need to know that, of course.

He was cute when he thought he'd won.

The house had been peacefully quiet after the departure, save for the sound Sasuke opening the fridge door, glancing inside for something to soothe his growling stomach.

He looked up as Itachi's long fingers poked his hand. The elder brother smiled, "Hey, do you want me to make you something to eat?"

"Sure, I'd like that." Sasuke stepped back and directly slumped into the nearest surface he could find, as he watched his brother busy himself with a red fruit.

Mmmh, tomatoes.

Soon enough, piles of smashed tomatoes-filled bowls kept pilling on the kitchen counter, for only Itachi knew what. Given their number and the care with which they were tossed aside, Sasuke was skeptic that Itachi planned to initially include them in some sort of giant, elaborate dish.

"What's wrong with those?"

The elder frowned, looking at the discarded dishes and back at Sasuke, as if the plates just spoke for themselves, "They're not … quite right."

Of course, Itachi was also a perfection freak.

"Come on, I'm sure it's more than edible."

With his disapproving eyes, Itachi, nonetheless watched his little brother snatch the bowl away from his hands, amusedly. He shook his head, somehow not understanding how the younger could settle for less than perfect tomatoes.

Fondly watching his brother stuffing his face must have been boring at some point as Itachi wandered off to pull out a bottle of nail polish from a drawer and proceeded to paint his toes right under Sasuke's disbelieving stare.

"Alright, I might regret asking this but, why are you doing that?"

Itachi paused momentarily his toe-painting, the little brush hanging in the air.

"It was something Mother and I used to do. It is relaxing."

Ah, of course, that explained everything.

"I hate to break it to you but-" Sasuke looked around, as if they were surrounded by eavesdroppers."-at the time, she obviously resigned herself to the thought that you were a human doll who wouldn't see much of the light of the day. Knowing her, she probably thought she could keep it under wraps."

"You mean-" and Itachi dramatically sucked in a breath "-that my whole life has been a lie?"

And because he couldn't help it, somehow, or because it was a big brother thing to traumatize their little brothers, he added tragically

"But…" and the elder put an elegant finger again his chin, eyebrows slightly frowned "What about the dresses? And the makeup? Tell me the truth, little brother, I'm ready."

Silence.

"You are unbelievable." Sasuke let out a frustrated growl.

When Itachi didn't answer and instead focused on his nail-painting ritual, a little smile adorning his lips, Sasuke added:

"You were joking right?"

It was around seven'o clock, as the blinking red numbers indicated, a good Tuesday morning, when Sasuke, with his sensitive hearing, woke up to the sounds of his brother peeking through his closet.

"What are you ... doing?" Sasuke managed to mumble, his upper-lip still glued to the pillow.

He cracked an eye open to see Itachi pulling out some outfit (mismatched, another one of Mikoto's influence?) he could find before announcing:

"I'm going out."

Sasuke's head raised from his comfortable position, confusion spreading through his features. He was pretty sure it was way too early for this.

"Come again?" He drawled.

Itachi sat comfortably on the end of Sasuke's bed, "I won't be long, otouto" He added while putting on white socks.

"Mother said nothing too strenuous." Sasuke warned, still not fully awake. He gave his brother a very long and sleepy stare, which he hoped conveyed how serious he was.

Itachi acknowledged it and nodded, "It won't be."

He leaned back to rest his head somewhere near Sasuke's shoulder, his thick eyelashes fluttering lazily, giving the younger the opportunity to snatch away the little bag he had been carrying.

Food supplies and medicine.

Good.

Rubbing his eyes and getting a real look at his big brother, the younger came to the conclusion that he easily looked like a moving target.

"I'm coming with you. Let me get dressed."

"That won't be necessary, I already called your friend."

"What?"

"Naruto? He was charming. He'll be keeping you company while I'm gone, and your breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen."

Playing with the rim of his glasses, Itachi seemed to contemplate some other thought.

"You call me if you need anything." He added.

Sasuke retorted, " _You_ , call me if anything happens. Don't get into trou-"

He was rudely interrupted as Itachi leaned over and kissed his forehead. Then he pulled the blanket over Sasuke's form properly, tucking him in the middle of the morning.

The moment Naruto opened his mouth, like the concerned friend he was, about how Sasuke's brother was doing, the raven took it as his cue that it was time to start over flooding his friend with his wave of complaints.

Now, Sasuke wouldn't be caught dead admitting that he complained, and thus admitting helplessness. He was merely voicing some concerns to another reasonable human being in hopes of receiving some sensible opinion on the matter.

Naruto, however, was equally puzzled and baffled at his friend's 90 degree turn, his eyebrows would have disappeared into his hairline if he wasn't wearing his favorite headband. That the stoic young man was openly, loudly expressing concern for another human being was usually reserved for life-or-death situations, and not only that, he waved his hands around, looking _passionate_ in his whining. No doubt the boy that he possessed basic emotions but god forbid anyone knew about that.

Sasuke was eventually dragged to a ramen stand, as Naruto believed there was virtually nothing ramen and one of his speeches could not fix, and ramen enhanced his speeches.

As it turned out, there was only so much complaints the blond teen could take without the risk of extinguishing his overall luminous attitude (at least for the day), and his alleged best friend was one of the few people who could repeatedly achieve that feat. It did not happen overnight, mind you, only prolonged exposure to Sasuke could do that to a person.

Now, Naruto was a very good friend, but somewhere along the monologues, his brain totally lost focus on Sasuke's actual words (out of self-preservation), instead fixing the raven and his crazy-people gestures.

From what the blonde gathered, everything Sasuke said seemed to revolve around 'He's not listening to me!'.

It didn't look like his friendship speech was needed here anyways.

And Sasuke could be such a drama queen.

"Naruto."

"Whut?" The blonde answered, his mouth still full of dripping noodles. Sasuke's face scowled at the sight.

"Have you been listening to me?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well, it must not be that hard to try and get along with your brother, is it? He sounded like a reasonable and nice guy to me." (A rare feat in Sasuke's family, if you asked Naruto.)

"We do get along. That's not the point."

It was probably a mistake to rely on Naruto for support, unfortunately, there were only so many people (outside his family) he could trust with his self-esteem issues. And that number had to be kept to a minimum, due to obvious self-esteem issues.

Sasuke swept his hair, "Forget it, I'm heading home. He should be back."

Sasuke could understand that some sort sense of urgency had unexpectedly sprouted in his brother's brain, he sincerely could, and maybe he was being a little bit paranoid, but this family taught him one was never paranoid enough. Just how much time in his life did Itachi spend not surrounded by four walls? Sasuke had no idea, but he was entitled to think of it as a concerning issue. The last time they lived under the same roof, his brother was literally always attached to one of their parents and then after that, it had been little visits in between, and none of these times had managed to convince Sasuke of Itachi's outside-world skills.

But it was supposed to be alright because they were grown-ups and Itachi was his brilliant big brother (whose inner workings were still somehow shadowy) and he would just not let anything bad happen.

As long as he didn't wander around trusting random seedy people, it should be fine.

But Itachi was such a mess.

A peace-loving mess who abhorred violence and conflict and thought it was a good idea to not defend himself.

He pulled out his cell-phone and contemplated calling his brother to check on him.

There was a knock at the door. The raven-haired teenager hurried to open it.

He stared, then glared.

"What is that?"

A giant waved at him uncertainly.

"Sasuke, please be polite. This is Kisame, my new friend."

* * *

 **Soo ... ?**


	4. Three

**Thanks for the reviews, darlings :) Here's chapter 4**

* * *

Some part of Sasuke had always lived with the sheer conviction that Itachi did not possess the ability to make friends.

This fact was strange in itself since Sasuke was the least sociable of the two, and yet he _did_ manage to make friends.

But after all, several years went by, and so far Itachi only managed to befriend his cousin. Sasuke was pretty sure it was some sort of arranged friendship between mother and aunt until it eventually morphed into a true one.

Apparently he was wrong about everything.

However there was this little (proud?) smile (and it positively made him cringe) Sasuke interpreted as 'Look, little brother, I did this all by myself!' that told him he wasn't.

It was a disturbing thought, to say the least.

Nevertheless, as he stared up and down at the giant mass of muscle and flesh towering over them (and was that his giant hand on Itachi's shoulder?), he felt utterly annoyed.

The three of them has been standing in this doorstep for several minutes and Itachi was still not taking the hint.

So much for sibling telepathy.

"Hello kid." Kisame said with a toothy grin. "Your brother told me really cool things about you."

Sasuke was unimpressed.

"Please, come on in, Kisame" Itachi said, blatantly disregarding his brother's opinion on the matter. "Have a seat."

The Kisame person made himself comfortable and Itachi, a hand on his hip, balancing his weight on one foot, looked thoughtful.

Sasuke thought maybe that was the extent of his 'receiving people' skills.

"Would you like something to eat?"

Or not.

"Are you okay Sasuke?" He heard his brother's concerned voice. "Be nice alright?" He added before disappearing somewhere in the kitchen.

Maybe he was being unreasonable.

His brother could take care of himself, alright, and he was a good judge of character.

But that was not the point.

There had been a point. At one time. Eventually.

His brother out of view, he sat purposely on the chair closest to their guest, which had Kisame looking at him strangely, seeing that the younger Uchiha clearly conveyed his dislike for the man.

"He's an interesting character, your brother." Kisame started.

"Hn." Sasuke raised his eyebrow. That didn't tamper on their guest's enthusiasm.

"And isn't the world such a little place? I happen to know your uncle Madara, I did work for him at a time. Truth to be told, you all look kinda alike. A great guy, huh?"

"Really?" He raised his other eyebrow.

Uncle Madara was a deranged man.

Kisame watched him uncertainly. His head slowly turned to the direction the elder Uchiha disappeared to.

" … Itachi? Do you need help in there?"

Sasuke internally smirked, did he make the man feel threatened? Good.

Maybe it was time for some ice-breaking then.

"Do you know about his condition?"

Kisame's smile curved downwards and his eyebrows furrowed. "Condition?"

"That's what I said, Kisame" He answered, and the name almost came out as a sneer from his mouth.

"I wasn't … aware there was a condition. I hope it's nothing too serious." And here, Kisame pulled out a really worried face.

"It is." He felt quite proud of himself, for managing to put that look on the other's face "And there are rules that must be followed. For instance-"

"That's enough, don't you think, Sasuke?"

Itachi, a plate of something that barely looked edible in his hands, had been silent as a snake, just enough to startle the younger and much to his dismay, an unwanted feeling of shame crept up on his mind.

Frustrated, he did the only reasonable thing he could think of, stomping angrily and slamming his bedroom door in their faces.

xxx

"Is there something you would like to tell me, otouto?" His brother, even though completely entitled to be angry or at the very least frustrated, was collected and graceful as always, and that, in turn, made Sasuke just a little bit frustrated.

"Did he leave?" He tried to make his voice neutral, but his face contorted into a scowl.

"He did."

"For good?" Sasuke inquired, knowing full well that whatever the answer, he would be simultaneously relieved and disappointed.

"He said he'd call."

"Are you angry?" Sasuke averted his eyes.

"I am not."

That was a quick response.

Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair, out of nervous habit. Now of all times would be a good time to smoke but Itachi's lungs wouldn't tolerate that.

The elder tapped his fingers on Sasuke's door very slowly, it grated on his nerves.

"I am sorry I tried to ruin your ... whatever it was supposed to be." He began.

"Do you think it was really necessary?" Itachi soundlessly shut the door behind him.

"He didn't really look trustworthy."

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose.

The silence stretched, and Sasuke knew, with a relieved mental sigh, that Itachi was trying not to cave in at the sight of his little brother's genuinely sad and concerned face.

A useful weapon for dire situations, if you ask him.

"Can I trust you not to do that again, Sasuke?"

A nod.

"I know it might not have been my brightest idea, alright?" He conceded.

"You are such a foolish little brother." He laughed softly.

Itachi sat on his bed.

"I understand. It is not easy for you, is it?" the elder began, "This whole situation. Living with me and dealing with all of those things at such a young age. It is not like you chose any of it. "

He fondly cradled his brother's hair. Sasuke glanced at him, concerned.

"It's not like that, nii-san."

Itachi nodded but didn't look convinced.

"Alright, let's make a deal then. You tell me something you want me to change and I do the same for you. Sounds fair?"

Sasuke blinked. It seemed a little late to have the realization he was having now. For several years, the focus had been on keeping alive and well and giving an adequate quality of life. That Itachi was expressing something as trivial as wanting to be around other people had been completely away from Sasuke's mind.

"I don't know, there are so many things you have to fix. I should get two things and you, one." Sasuke bargained, jokingly.

"Of course, you are right, little brother. Would you like a temple massage with that?"

"Yeah, my head has been killing me." The younger smiled, reassured that the tension was gone, "As for the first thing I am asking for … maybe ditch Kisame?"

"Nice try."

Itachi's hand moved to poke Sasuke's forehead but his fingers never reached their destination as Sasuke caught his hand in mid-air. The younger's other hand shot out to replicate his brother's gesture and show him just how annoying it was.

He found himself locked before he even started.

The brothers stared at each other, Itachi curiously amused as a little fire of competition lit into Sasuke's eyes.

Soon they were no more than tangled limbs trying to be the fastest to get rid of the other's grip.

For as far as the raven could remember, they never engaged into such futile mock-fights. He almost forgot about everything except that Itachi was his brother and this was the closest to _playing_ they ever did until Itachi started breathing unevenly.

The few seconds it took him to realize it had been out of laughing, his forehead had already been targeted.

"You cheater." He spat.

"There, there." Itachi soothed, patting his head affectionately. "You win, I give up."

Sasuke offered a hand to help him sit upright, "And you renounce to your one wish because you love me just the way I am, and there's nothing you want to change about me." It was unlike the teenager to come up with such cheesy words, but the look of realization that dawned on his big brother's face had been completely worth it.

Itachi took his own head in both hands.

"I still need to work on that."

Sasuke smirked.

* * *

 **Tell me what you think :)**


	5. Four

It occurred to Sasuke that his brother, like other human being, could be depressed. He certainly should have been depressed prior the Kisame incident, what with his shitty luck, and well, after that ...

It was not a particularly nice thought (like all thoughts involving Itachi being a human being with human being needs which inevitably led to awkward revelations), nor did he want to address the subject with the concerned person out of fear that should there be a depression, that would further deepen it, that and the Uchiha have gotten the 'not referring to possible emotion-inducing subjects unless someone's health is directly in line' (quite ironic) to an art. It had to be respected by unsaid rule.

Itachi was putting the remains of his fifth meal in the dishwasher. From Sasuke's viewpoint, he was moving almost in slow-motion. The illness helping, the act of breathing alone was consuming most of his calories intake.

"How's living with mother like?" The teenager asked, hoping that the older might breach the subject himself.

Itachi paused, leaning over a counter, probably gathering some memories.

"She is always urging me to go out, and then she follows me, whenever I go somewhere. She tries to hide so I usually pretend I don't see her. I think she knows, but at the end of the day, we pretend we just met and she drives me back."

"That sucks." He said, and at the same time, he'd be the last to put any blame on her. "And you never told me how it went with Kisame."

Itachi smiled.

"To be honest, I am not really used to this, so my judgment at this point is completely biased. But I like him."

"I see." Sasuke whispered dramatically.

Itachi sat on the edge of the sofa, then proceeded to draw his knees close to his chest: his default position. Sasuke figured he was tired, since he had done a lot of standing around. But then, he'd also done a lot of sleeping these days.

Apparently, he also decided he'd not given his brother enough information.

"I might even be attracted to him."

Sasuke promptly choked on his spit.

"Do I have to remind you that know him for less than a day." Sasuke shrieked, horrified.

So okay, it was all new for him and his brother was unfamiliar with concepts such as 'pretending not to care' and he constantly thought he was in a hurry these days but there were some damn limits.

"Maybe he should know." Said brother contemplated. "Is that not how it works?"

"You are officially a danger to yourself."

"You are being mean."

"Please, stop. You are scaring me." Sasuke retorted.

Not able to hold in anymore, the eldest let out a chuckle.

"First, please revise your notion of 'funny'. Second, did you see that guy? He could snap you like a twig."

"No he couldn't." Itachi frowned.

"Why not?"

"I'm smarter." He retorted.

"Of course, what was _I_ thinking?" Sasuke thought he should be used to it by now. "You have to promise me, however, that you'll be careful. Promise me." He stressed.

"You don't have to do this, little brother." Itachi insisted.

"Can we be serious for a second here? I hope you told him all the things he has to pay attention to, because he didn't seem to know a single thing about that. It would be a shame if you hid that from just so that he we consider you as 'friend material', that would be not only stupid but also dangerous."

Itachi seemed to be developping a headache.

"It seemed a really underwhelming first thing to say to someone."

Sasuke glared.

"I know for sure that he smokes, and he could have brought you to god-knows-what polluted place."

"It's a shame I lost the ability to say no."

Out of pride, Sasuke stayed stubbornly silent.

"Alright, just let me do this, I promise you don't have to worry."

"Do you even have the slightest idea of what you're doing?"

"Well." A sideway glance was shot at him along with a little smile "Given that all my friends are blood relatives, of course I do."

Sasuke laughed and Itachi shifted closed to the raven, trying to glide against the fabric, using minimal movement. He was such a couch potato.

"Come eat dango with me later today, at the teashop."

"I don't like dango." Sasuke retorted, half-heartedly.

"In this case, you will buy me dango and I will entertain you."

"Idiot." The younger laughed again. Sometimes, his brother seemed totally unaware of the fact that Sasuke was seventeen. Or he was, but at nineteen, he already had no idea how to act with seventeen years-old people. His mind was sixty or something.

Ring.

"Who is that?" Sasuke leaned over to Itachi, who held the phone in his hand, eyeing the caller id.

"Uncle Madara."

The doorbell rang just as the elder brother accepted the call and said 'hello'.

It was Naruto behind the door. He waved enthusiastically at Itachi who waved back with a nod and disappeared in another room, still glued on the phone.

Even though the blonde stopped him from eavesdropping, Sasuke quickly wiped the smile from his face. God forbid the idiot knew he was actually relieved to see him.

He was able to hold on approximatively seven minutes before blurting out the Kisame fiasco.

"Hmm." The blonde pulled a serious face, and paused for a long time, brows furrowed, deep in thought.

"This whole thing. You're doing it wrong."

Sasuke believed that the day he'd seriously consider an advice from Naruto was a day hell would freeze over.

"I mean, you might have the right intentions, but the way you go about it is all wrong."

The earlier series of catastrophes might have hinted that way.

"Right, like you'd do any better." He retorted, half-heartedly. While he was tempted to agree with his blonde friend, there was just no stopping his defense mechanism.

"Admit it, bastard, you want me to be here because you desperately need my help."

"I don't."

"Admit it or I'm leaving."

He stared disbelievingly into his best friend's blue eyes.

Sasuke then thought 'might be attracted' and 'tell him'.

"Fine."

"Fine what?"

The bastard.

"Ineedyourhelp."

"You're a desperate case, teme. Consider yourself lucky to have a good friend such as me. Think about it, seriously, where would you-"

"Get. To. The. Point."

"Right, right. Have you, like, tried talking to him?"

Silence.

"If that's your advice, you might as well leave."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Playing difficult are we?"

Might as well get this over with.

"He thinks he's got it all under control, that he doesn't need my help." Sasuke whined.

"Aaaand?" Naruto encouraged.

"That's just not how it works when you have fucked up lungs." He paused, then added as an afterthought "My parents agree."

Naruto suppressed a laugh.

"That's some solid argument you've got there. So your point is?"

"I just said it, idiot."

"Well-"

Muffled sounds of coughing could be heard from another room.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Wait."

Naruto opened his mouth to ask 'what' but Sasuke didn't hear any of it as he closed the distance with the source of the sound.

He opened the bathroom door with a forceful shove.

Itachi was leaning against the sink, coughing, breathing sporadically, his reflexion in the mirror looking dazed.

The sound of the water streaming down the bathroom sink was almost inaudible, but the dark greasy substance disappearing in it contrasted harshly with the white of the room.

In was all over Itachi's hands.

Sasuke closed his eyes.

Not now.

When he opened them, their eyes met, Itachi's face looking sorry.

He willed the thoughts out of his head and with two long strides, he was on his brother. His hands settled on Itachi's back before grabbing both his shoulders and detaching him from the sink, keeping him steady.

"Come on. Don't stay there."

Wet coughs continued to echo throughout the room, a sharp intake of breath heard in between.

Sasuke half-pushed half-hauled his brother into the living room, prompting him to sit down on the sofa.

One of his hands was still on Itachi's shoulder, making his lean back. Judging by Itachi's crooked smile, and his hand lightly gripping his brother's, this was obviously the wrong thing to do.

His other shakily fumbled for his phone as he let Itachi rearrange himself on his side, drawing his knees, trying to find a position that would make it easier for the air to enter his lungs.

"Okay, there. Just breathe."

"Do I call the emergencies!?" Naruto panicked on the doorway.

Sasuke's eyes glanced at his brother's form, the coughing had subdued, replaced by shaky breathing.

"Itachi?"

His head shook gently, long stands of hair falling from behind his ear.

"Sorry." A deep inhale "But really ... there is no need to get so worked out." He attempted to joke, softly.

"Less talking and more breathing." Having calmed down, he noticed the tremors that shook his frame, "You're trembling, are you hungry?"

"No, just … tired." His voice was muffled, and Sasuke couldn't see his face at all, as it was hidden behind the cushions.

Naruto brought over a towel, thrusting it into the elder's hands. "Here."

"Thanks."

The blonde looked at his best friend. "What do we do Sasuke?"

Sasuke was still standing, unsure.

"Do you feel any better?"

"Hmm."

But neither his face nor his voice looked like it so coming back to his senses, Sasuke disappeared into their shared room and came back with a bunch of medicines.

He shoved the bronchodilator in his brother's limp hand and brought it close to his mouth, waiting him to breathe through the little device.

"Sasuke." Naruto was shaking him now, his voice far away.

"He passed out."

* * *

 **:) Review ?**


	6. Five

**Hey there, sorry for the delay, and thank you all for the feedbacks ! Here's next chapter !**

When Itachi was a little more than a toddler, and Sasuke was just a whisper of an idea in his parent's minds, Fugaku has him learn martial arts.

Itachi looked at his father with those big eyes which took in everything faster than any kid, which knew how much his father wanted him to do this, and nodded a tiny little nod.

He performed up to Fugaku's expectations, and when they came back home, he looked up at his father with those same big black eyes.

"Father", he shifted his weight from one foot to another, "I don't want to fight."

It ultimately felt like a (tiny) punch to the gut, but Fugaku decided not to take it seriously, confident that he would be able to make him change his mind. Itachi was after all very young and eager to please.

He did not understand how something could be so deeply ingrained in one's mind.

Sasuke, in retrospect, could be compared to a little hurricane who was willing to give him what he wanted. By the time Fugaku realized this fact, the symptoms started appearing, and from then to now, Itachi had lost almost half of his lung capacity.

These days, it seemed he always got what he wanted with the wrong timing.

Moreover, the man was agreeably surprised when his eldest son, against all odds, changed his mind and expressed an interest to join the intelligence department.

Of course, Fugaku suspected Itachi's change of heart was all about Sasuke and his expected enrollment. But he couldn't really appreciate this turn of events to the fullest now that his son was silently writhing in his arms.

He arrived just in time to witness Sasuke rooted to the spot and his blonde friend's shouting and flailing. Through the chaos, one of them at least managed to contact the emergencies.

In a spare moment of glassy-eyed consciousness, his eldest gripped his own delirium-induced head, and tried to claw his way out of Fugaku's solid grip, leaving an angry red mark on his father's face (and Fugaku then thought how easily he could break one of Itachi's bones in one accidental movement).

The attempt was feeble and short-lived, and seemed to cause worst bouts of pain.

At that moment, his eyes widened in silent realization. He suddenly shrunk limply into his father's arms.

The boy in his arms resembled less and less Itachi and was more of a mind trapped in a faulty body, trying to get its way out.

But this was his son, and when Fugaku's eyes met those wide black pools for the briefest moment, it felt as if Itachi was seven again.

But this was so soon.

Too soon.

Itachi didn't wake for two days during which the Uchiha stared at each other, sat on uncomfortable chairs, acknowledging the tension and not voicing it, absentmindedly nodding whenever the doctors had something to say.

The hours went excruciatingly slow, but his father's sudden departure made Sasuke snap out of his foggy mind. The man just excused himself and went God-knows-where.

At a loss, the teen searched for his mother's gaze. Not a single reaction transpired from the woman. But upon noticing her younger son's insistent stare, she squeezed his shoulders, with a tired smile, and uttered "We'll face whatever happens."

It was the least reassuring statement Sasuke could think of, the sentence he didn't need to hear, and while he himself, couldn't make such an affirmation, he was somewhat glad his mother could,

A few hours after, Mikoto forcibly made Sasuke go home to sleep, with Naruto's help, who accompanied him and force-fed him with noodles (not really the easiest choice of food to force-feed someone but the best Naruto could manage), his expression permanently stuck into a frown.

On the evening of some other day Sasuke lost count of, he woke up to the message left by his mother, saying that he could come now, if he wished to.

She did not call, probably wanting him to get as much sleep as he could.

His attempt to stand up resulted in an awkward sprawl on the floor next to his bed. Groaning, he made his way to the door and blearily picked up Itachi's discarded glasses in the living room, next the bloody towel. In the same moment, a muffled ringtone –so tacky it was definitely not his- blared.

He stared at the offending piece of technology, and considered not answering, lacking the energy to be annoyed with someone else.

It was Kisame.

 _Of course._

"Hello." He picked up in a monotonous tone.

"Itachi?"

"No."

"Oh, Sasuke. Is your brother anywhere near you?"

Sasuke clasped his eyes shut.

"No. He's not."

"I see." Kisame answered in a tone that suggested the contrary, it was a tired tone, "Well, could you tell him I called?"

Reopening his eyes and glancing at the cracks in the ceiling, the young Uchiha unclenched his fist, letting his arm fall limply at his side.

"Sure." He said, "I will."

There was a short silence where Sasuke imagined his brother's friend actually smiling a toothy, infuriating grin.

"Okay, see you Sasuke."

He hung up and departed in a haze, with fabric fibers stuck into his hair and the crumpled shirt he slept with.

Stepping into the floor Itachi was in, Sasuke stilled, hearing a choked sob he immediately linked with his brother. He shook his head, resuming his walk slowly. The hospital stench invaded his nose and brightness of the white neon did nothing to alleviate the overall somber atmosphere in the hallway.

The first thing breaking the gloom of the place was the messy bun who belonged to Mikoto, stepping out of a hospital room. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot but her entire demeanor radiated some kind of infinite patience, ready to accept whatever comes next.

Sasuke envied that.

His father was still nowhere to be seen.

"He's okay" She was the first thing she uttered, with a tired smile, "A little confused, but you can see him."

Glancing at the room in front of his through the door, Sasuke's eyes settled on the medical devices, then the straps were holding his brother's arms securely on the hospital bed.

"Why did they have him restrained?" Sasuke frowned.

"He was delirious, and they had to keep him from snatching his breathing tube."

"I see." He paused, looking at his mother, "You should get some rest too, mother, you don't look so well."

"No. I-"

"Please."

Mikoto was startled, unused to the sound of Sasuke's pleading ever since her son hit puberty.

Her smile turned into a somewhat nervous laugh, then she stopped and looked at him pointedly and titled her head slightly to the direction of his brother's room.

"I'll be back soon." She assured.

Sasuke nodded briskly. His nerves on edge, he stepped in the room. A pair of black, half-lidded eyes followed his every movement with slow curiosity.

"Nii-san?"

Itachi's pale face turned slowly into his general direction. He looked at him with glazed eyes and a cannula stuck in his nose, blinked twice then tried to move, fruitless efforts soon making him realize that he couldn't. His eyes went haphazardly between Sasuke and his restraints.

They widened a little, then he frowned.

"You delivered me to the police." He concluded and Sasuke was torn between being concerned and amused. The tension he felt, however, loosened considerably.

"Of course not, nii-san. Why would I ever do that?"

Itachi didn't pay his words any mind.

"I understand." He said solemnly, then he slouched, his form deflating in the hospital bed. "I am not upset at you, otouto." He leaned over, as best as he could, and mentioned for his brother to do the same. "I did ..."

He averted his eyes, burdened by some terrible shame.

"I did …" He clenched his eyes shut, "… some unforgivable things."

The younger shook his head and reached for his brother's hand, squeezing.

"Alright, let's get you out of these." Sasuke's hands worked quickly to undo his brother's binds.

This alarmed Itachi.

"You will get in trouble."

"No. You know me, I can get away with almost everything. I have my ways."

Itachi paused, and seemed to recover from his initial shock, but the concern did not definitely leave his eyes.

"You are acting really strange, otouto."

"Okay." A smiled eased the younger's feature, "I'll ask mother if I can get you something sweet, do I have your word you won't try to pull these out?" He pointed at the tubes connected to the machines.

Itachi gave him a wide-eyed look, as if Sasuke had said or done something truly amazing, and slowly nodded.

A familiar curly-haired head was there when he came back, on Sasuke's discarded chair.

"Hey, Sasuke." He greeted, he paused, assessing his younger cousin, brows furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not the one in the hospital bed, here."

The man sighed, holding his hands up in defeat, "You know what I mean."

Before he had the chance to snap, Itachi chimed in and took a hold of Shisui's arm, propping himself on his other elbow.

"What happened to Sasuke?" He demanded.

Shisui chuckled.

The short-haired man stood up to push his cousin back gently into his white pillows.

"Go back to sleep, baby cousin, your brother is fine."

"He doesn't look fine." He retorted.

Shisui loomed closer, his hands firmly grasping his cousin's shoulders, "Sleep."

When Itachi regained consciousness, he immediately closed his eyes again, then reopened them slowly, getting accustomed with the light. Shisui's curly hair was the first thing that entered his line of vision.

The fog around his mind receded a little, and he realized something was poking his right knee. Looking down, his eyes softened as they landed on the black unkempt tuft that could only belong to his baby brother.

"Help me pull him up.", he addressed his cousin.

Sasuke was deeply anchored to the hospital chair as his older cousin maneuvered his legs to lay them on the bed next to his brother. He looked quite miserable in Itachi's eyes, so much anxiety and exhaustion marring his face.

"Maybe it would be best if he did not spend so much time in here."

His statement was dismissed with a wave of hand, "You know how stubborn that little demon is."

Silence settled between the cousins, regularly interrupted by Sasuke's snoring, the beeping and the sound of Itachi's own breathing.

"How are you feeling?" The older man asked.

Itachi offered a weak smile. "They said I am doing well."

"But that's not what I asked."

Itachi studied him for a while, face blank before his expression dulled.

"What should I do?" Gaze averted from Shisui's face, he couldn't keep the distress seeping from his voice, not from his best friend anyways, and silently berated himself for it.

But this was Shisui, who knew him like the back of his hand. From the sleepless nights, rubbing circles on his back as he was trying to catch his breath, not to drown in his lungs to the gloomy days where his steady arms would keep him upright and standing and just going on.

"Stop." Shisui said, "What you're doing now only serves to make matters worse."

The long eyelashes met his pale cheeks.

"I know."

Shisui's eyes softened, he reached out and rested his hand over his cousin's.

"You should also know that your father asked me to keep an eye on you."

Itachi's attention snapped back to Shisui's face, "Why?"

"Well, you are terribly talented in taking care of yourself, aren't you?" he smirked mysteriously.

Itachi didn't answer and Shisui scooted over the bed, motioning for Itachi to make place for him. He managed to lay half of his body on the mattress while the other half was awkwardly supported by his leg on the floor.

He pulled Itachi into a tight hug, his chin against the top of the younger's head, pressing his lips against Itachi's temple.

"We'll work this out another time."

 **Next chapter will have lots of Kisame ! But ... it might take a while. Um ... can I do some shameless self-promotion here ? Yes ? Take a look at my new fic then :) If ... you want to.**

 **Oh and, if anyone is interested in beta-ing this fic, or if you just want to talk, PM me**


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